IS JESUS REALLY GOD?

April 21, 2008 
Is Jesus Really God?

Hameed Abdul Karim

In his letter titled ‘The adoration of my Lord and God’ (DM April 2, 2008) Mr. Victor Ivan Silva says that Mr. Lucien Perera and he had given many verses from the Bible to support their claims that the Blessed Jesus Christ (peace be on him) was/is God. I beg to differ. The crucial question that arises out of this discussion is not so much the divinity of Jesus but whether he said he was God. And I reiterate there is no place anywhere in the New Testament where Jesus had said ‘I am God’. Period.

FURTHER CLARFICATION OF THE MUSLIM POINT OF VIEW OF JESUS

Wednesday March 19, 2008 
Further clarification of the Muslim point of view of Jesus Christ, the Messiah

Hameed Abdul Karim

First let me thank Lucien Perera for praying for me in his response (DM 27 February, 2008) to my article on the Muslims’ viewpoint of Jesus Christ which I wrote out of my faith and love for Jesus Christ (peace be on him) as a Muslim. I too wish him well.

I am happy Mr. Perera accepts the contradictory reports of Judas’ suicide as found in the Bible. He then goes on to say the core point is that Judas did commit suicide and the manner in which it happened is a secondary point. That may be so. But the crucial issue we were discussing was the divinity of the Revered Jesus Christ. So the question that comes to mind is whether we can attach any reliability or significance to the statements by Gospel writers which Christians interpret to claim that Jesus Christ was divine (meaning God) if they cannot get right a non-controversial issue like the manner in which Judas committed suicide. 

JESUS CHRIST, THE MESSIAH: A MUSLIM POINT OF VIEW

February 14, 2008
Jesus Christ, the Messiah: A Muslim point of view

Hameed Abdul Karim

I agree with Lucien Perera when he dismisses the myth that it was Judas who was crucified and not Jesus Christ. This is a belief among only a few Muslims but it has no historical validity at all and it’s more to do with ignorance than anything else. 

I don’t intend to hurt my Christian brethrens’ feelings, but as much as a Christian is entitled to correct a misrepresentation of the Revered Jesus Christ, I feel that I should be given the opportunity to present a crucial point which Mr. Perera raises under the heading ‘Islamic Jesus: Setting the Record Straight’ (DM 31 January 2008). And that point is the divinity of Jesus. At the beginning it was not the Muslims who contested his divinity, but devout Christians who have written many books on the subject. One that is of great interest is the ‘Myth of God Incarnate’ edited by John Hick. The essays of the authors in this book argue that it was possible to be Christian without believing in the incarnation as did those Christians until 325 CE at which point the Council of Nicaea conferred divinity of Jesus Christ.